


12 easy steps to become a master Phantom Thief

by dreamingcicadas



Category: Final Fantasy XV, Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Phantom Thieves!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-26 18:25:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10792212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingcicadas/pseuds/dreamingcicadas
Summary: [Persona 5 x FFXV crossover]Before Noctis can steal a heart he has to learn the basic rules of thievery, which may be trickier than one would think seeing that he's the crowned prince of Lucis. Morgana claims that under his tutelage, he'll be living the double life in no time.





	12 easy steps to become a master Phantom Thief

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nickofhearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickofhearts/gifts).



Noctis slumped in his chair, brows furrowed together in concentration. His tutor was elsewhere, giving him a duration of a few hours to work on his practice problems. It was enough time for Noctis to finish but the subject wasn’t fun. Nothing was really fun for him, something something he’s gonna be king and whatever. The only interest Noct had was scoring the highest in the arcade that just opened near the highschool he’d eventually have to go to. 

Math was such a boring subject that could put him to sleep faster than any medicinal aid. It didn’t help that the sun was at just the right angle, lulling him away from all the responsibilities of the waking world. It...would be alright to close his eyes, his tutor would not be back for another hour or two anyway. 

Tiny scratches snapped him out of his drowsiness, there was a black cat pawing at his window. Noct smiled and made his way over to the window to let the feline in. 

“ Meow!” the cat greeted but it made Noctis laugh.

“Morgana, no one is around.” Noctis smiled, scratching underneath the kitty’s chin. “ My tutor is out while I finish up these dumb math problems.”

“ Mathematics isn’t stupid,” Morg said, his tail shooting up and curling at the end. “ Projecting some insecurity, your holiness?” 

“ Pfft, first off it should be ‘highness’. I’m not a religious figure,” Noctis said. He leaned down to shake his finger in front of the cat, pulling back just in time to avoid Morg’s bite. “ And secondly I’m not dumb, so there.”

“ Oh you  _ sure _ convinced me.” If cats could roll their eyes, then this was it. Morgana brushed past Noctis and towards his desk where all his school papers laid. The cat sniffed the sheets as part of his inspection, finally taking his residency at the side of the desk and not on top of the paper themselves unlike many other cats. While Noct was not allowed to keep an animal of his own ( Umbra didn’t count since he was a spiritual messenger) he watched many of cat videos to know cats usually sit on important things. It was another tally to the list of evidence his new companion did differently. That evidence alluding to Morgana being so much more than a cat.

And Morgana would say it was because he’s a former human, but Noct disagreed. Morgana had to be something  _ cooler.  _

Bringing back Umbra to the mental discussion Noctis is having with  himself, not even Luna’s dog talked, and Luna was the Oracle. And being the Oracle, well, that meant Luna was super special. 

So this cat was ultra-special, like how there were five-star heros in Justice Monsters, Morgana was a six-star ( which is something Noctis just made up now). Without a doubt Luna was a six-star too, because Luna. Duh.

“ I know, I’m amazing,” Morg said, as if pulling out exactly what Noctis was thinking. “ Here, I’ll help you with your homework.” 

Noctis returned to his seat with Morgana by his side. Morg was so smart, better than his tutor. Any part he got stuck on, Morg would bring in a new perspective and then it clicked in for Noctis.

His tutor returned with praise, none of his answers wrong.

\--

“ I can teach you other things,” Morgana said wickedly after Noctis let the cat in at the dead of night, the moon hanging high in the sky. “ There are cooler things than being a prince, you know.”

“ I’m interested,” Noctis said earnestly. 

“What!?” Morg said like he was not expecting that answer. “ You don’t want to be a prince?”

“ Meh,” Noct replied. “ But don’t get me wrong, I love my dad.”

Morgana’s whiskers were pin straight with shock from his answer. They exchanged blinks for a few moments and then the cat shook off the surprise. Morg cleared his throat and then said, “ Alright, tonight I anoint you as an officiated member of the ‘Phantom Thieves’.”

“ So you’re a bad kitty?” Noct said, covering his mouth in horror.

“ No no, allow me to explain,” Morg started, clearly offended that Noctis labeled him on the wrong side of moral alignment. “ Phantom Thieves steal  _ hearts.  _ And only bad people’s heart. I’ve anointed you as a hero of justice, dummy.”

“ Hero of justice!?” Noctis yelled before catching the volume of his words. Then in a milder tone befitting that of a time where people were asleep, Noct said, “ You  _ are _ six-star. I can’t wait to tell Luna about this.”

“ There are some rules to follow.” Morg interrupted that train of thought. ” One being more important because you are the crowned prince,” Morg said, closing one eye. 

“ Rules…” Noctis gagged.

“ The number one rule is keeping your identity as a Phantom Thief  _ secret _ ,” Morg declared. Noctis nodded like he understood and Morgana seemed pleased by that. “ We’re not gonna start you on heists just yet.”

Noctis slumped his shoulders. “ Aw.”

“ Let’s make some tools first,” Morg said mischievously. 

\--

 

There was a knock on a door. One of the glaives turned to their king and Regis sighed. With a flurry of his fingers the guards moved and allowed their guest to enter, whoever it was, and Regis took it as reprieve from the ridiculous amounts of paperwork he was tasked to do. 

It was Cor, who gave Regis a pitying smile after he flicked his gaze over the sight before him. 

Regis leaned back in his chair and stretched out his arms. “ I’m going to get carpal tunnel ontop of whatever the ring has burdened me with.”

“ Indeed,” Cor mused. Regis waved a hand at the glaives stationed in his office who left the vicinity. After the door clicked shut, Cor relaxed his posture, taking a seat on the sofa chair that furnished the room. “ I have an update on your son.”

Regis arched a brow at the Marshal, fiddling with one of his desk ornaments between his fingers. “ Something Mr. Scientia will not tell me?”

“ I don’t think so, and not out of secrecy,” Cor said, procuring a thin sliver of metal from his pocket. 

Regis squinted. “ Is that…?”

“ A lock pick,” Cor supplied. “ I found at least a dozen of them in his school bag, but I’ve yet to address it with him.” 

“ I see.” 

There was a pregnant pause,Cor waiting expectantly for an answer. When Regis just continued in his silence, Cor sucked in a sharp breath of air before speaking up, “ What will his punishment be?”

“ None thus far,” Regis said, and Cor nearly choked. “ We’ll wait and see. He’s only thirteen, after all. As long as he doesn’t get in trouble with it.”  


He _didn't_ say that the true reason behind his leniency was because this was the first rebellious spark he had seen in Noctis since the Marilith attack. Cor didn't need to ask to understand.

“ Is that all?” 

“ Yes, your majesty,” Cor said.

“ Then...dismissed,” Regis finished weakly. 

\--

**Author's Note:**

> Noctis loved animals of all kinds, but cats were his favorite. As the only prince of Lucis, it was important to keep him safe and ensure the royal line didn’t wisk out like a candle. After Noctis was injured by the Marilith, different protocols were employed with Noctis’ safety as number one priority. Decoy cars, special code words and switching routes were the many strategies enacted, only a core group of individuals knowing the right kind of information. Sometimes Prince Noctis simply walked home, as ludicrous as it were, the child taking the backstreets home. That was not without protection, and of course, Noctis stopping every few minutes to pet all the stray cats in the vicinity. 
> 
> There was a black cat with bright blue eyes that matched his own intensity, a white splotch at the tip of his tail---or was it a she---that flicked back and forth wildly. Noctis was set on a mission of petting this feisty little thing even if he received a few battle scars from it. 
> 
> Noctis broke into a sprint, shaking off the pursuit of his wayward wards, their voices dying in the wind. He was, for the most part, a mild mannered child but the cat had talked. Noctis was an inquisitive one, and he had to at least confirm his suspicions. 
> 
> He finally trapped the feline in a dead end. The cat bristled up, finally hissing out, “ I don’t know what you want from me, but leave me alone!”
> 
> Noct gasped, “ You do talk!”
> 
> “ Duh,” the cat said, pointing his nose up at him. 
> 
> His guards finally caught up to him, “ Prince Noctis!” 
> 
> “...Prince?” The cat chirped, ears perking up. Then in a lower tone the cat whispered, “ ...Treasure.”


End file.
